As a photographer in the business almost 30 years, it saddens me that professional
photography is not held in the high esteem it once was.

Years ago, professional photographers the world over were respected for their
artistic ability and technical acumen. Young photographers worked hard to create
a high-quality portraiture. Portrait artists like Monte Zucker, Joe Zeltzman,
Don Blair, Frank Cricchio, and Tibor Horvath showed all of us how to create
exceptional portraits. The care they took in creating a perfect portrait
or wedding image was unmatched.

These industry giants influenced a new generation of photographers. David Ziser,
Hanson Fong, Jeff Lubin, and others took high-quality wedding and portrait
work to another level. These are my mentors, the people I tried to emulate.
The quality of their photography not only influenced hundreds of thousands
of photographers, but it set the standard consumers demanded.
So what happened? When did photography start to lose value in the eyes of consumers?
There is no one answer but there are several contributing factors . . .

•The first trend is wedding photojournalism. Let me explain. First of all,
real photojournalists get a bad rap. A photojournalist is a reporter with a camera.
If you don’t have the luxury of being able to interact with your subject,
you must take pictures as the situation presents itself and document everything
you can. This makes sense if you are photographing politicians, actors and
other celebrities, who may not want to take the time to pose for pictures on
a wedding day.

Photographers who cater to this clientele do the best they can with the circumstances
presented to them. However, less than 1/100 of 1 percent of the weddings
held in the U.S. fit this description. So while not posing brides and grooms
is necessary for celebrity weddings, it shouldn’t have become the norm for
everyday bridal couples. Wedding photojournalism has not only replaced traditional
photography in many instances; it has made high-quality posed photographs undesirable.

• Today’s wedding photojournalist clones take several hundred if not
thousands of pictures on the wedding day. I refer to this style as the shotgun
approach to wedding photography. Shoot enough pictures and you’re bound
to get some good ones. This is not lost on the consumer. That “Uncle Harry” wedding
photographer in your neighborhood no longer has to learn proper posing or lighting
to be considered a professional wedding photographer. Just take a bunch of pictures
and let them all be “natural.”

How can we be respected as professional photographers if anybody can do
the same thing we do? You’ll get some great photos once in a while so long as you
have a good camera and your finger’s glued to the shutter, but wedding
photojournalism looks like wedding photojournalism.

And this problem is limited to the wedding photography market. I recently
heard conference speakers say they are shooting 250 to 350 images of high
school seniors. Another speaker said he shoots his seniors on location. Let
me be the first to coin the phrase “senior photojournalism.” If this
trend catches on, studio portraits of high school seniors could become a thing
of the past.

• Another example of how professional photography has been devalued is where
some photographers are meeting with potential customers: coffee shops. Where
is the professionalism in meeting someone in a coffee shop? For years, we’ve
worked to create studios and galleries that made a positive first impression
when you walked through the door, showcasing the quality of our work. Again, “Uncle
Harry” may have no option, but when professionals meet in local coffee
shops it further diminishes the value of wedding photography.

• Our profession has been further devalued by the practice of selling hi-res
CDs to clients. Don’t get me wrong: for the right price, hi-res files should
be available. The problem is that many photographers place hi-res CDs at the
bottom of their pricing structure. When clients only receive CDs, they don’t
have the heirloom their parents and grandparents had, i.e., a high-quality
wedding album.

“Uncle Harry” doesn’t bother with album design and layout;
he’s only interested in a quick buck. But I’m dismayed to hear about
established photographers doing the same thing. At a high school senior photographers’ convention,
a speaker said he was going to offer a hi-res CD of a senior session for only
$250. We’re selling out our own profession when we act like this.

It’s time to go back to creating quality portraits, to lighting subjects
correctly, to convincing our clients they should receive beautiful wedding albums
and framed portraits. From the time you receive that initial phone call, to the
consultation in your office, throughout the wedding day, and the delivery of
finished wedding albums and framed portraits, it’s all about providing
top-notch service.

When customers return to demanding this level of quality and service, “Uncle
Harry” will no longer be our problem.

Editor's Note: Viewpoints is a new department created to provide readers with
a forum for expressing their views, whether or not they reflect the views of
this publication. Have something to get off your chest? Email the editor at
alice.miller@cygnusb2b.com